In this current time, many of us are looking for fun and exciting titles we may have not gotten to play before. With new sales every week and so much time stuck at home, there are plenty of options and potential. One thing we don’t always have an easy time finding (unless you’re a Switch owner), is something that can be enjoyed with those we may be stuck inside with. Couch co-op is something that isn’t always as available as one may hope in these online dominated times. And even rarer are titles that don’t just offer another opportunity for mini-games, cart races, or frag fests. This is where A Way Out comes in.
A Way Out is a fairly standard adventure game on the surface level. You’re communicating with NPCs, finding items to help you progress, and the story is center stage. Where this title sticks out though, is that it is not only recommended, but built, to be played with a partner. The story centers around two unlikely acquaintances -Dad Bod Kurt Russel as Vincent, a calm headed father-to-be who incidentally finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and Andrian Brody’s Nose as Leo, a hot-headed career crook with a wife and son he wants to return home to- who through a shared distaste for a maniac named Harvey and a desire to break out of prison, find themselves teaming up to see that plan through and to hopefully gain some revenge along the way. I won’t divulge any more story details, as that is the crux of the whole adventure, but it is a rollercoaster adventure with a 70s backdrop and 80s action sensibilities.
As with the 80s action buddy team-up plot, the gameplay uses the partner dynamic to a wonderful degree. Having one play lookout as the other sneakily sets the breakout plan in motion; going back to back in brawls; timing button pushes to bust through doors, take out guards simultaneously, and traverse the environment, it all works very well to both serve a dynamic function for play as well as in service to building the emotional dynamic between our two anti-heroes. When playing on the same console, the game utilizes a split-screen nicely, giving the less dominant character the ability to still move around the environment and interact with things, even if the action moving the mission forward is handled by the other player.
The way the game handles these adventure game staple setpieces is very dynamic and interesting as well, flowing between the split-screen and full-screen action, and playing with camera angles and method of play from moment to moment. While a good chunk of the gameplay can revolve around chasing or running from dudes, or brawling with others, it may change the angle to a 2D brawler framing or even go isometric to show you the entire area of movement. It allows the game to feel fresh throughout, even when you’re essentially doing the same stuff you’ve been doing the whole time.
Being a mostly adventure game, it doesn’t have a giant level of difficulty for the most part and can be perfect for those family members, roommates, or partners that find themselves more often as backseat gamers. It’s nice to give them the ability to become more personally invested in the story in a way that just watching games might not allow. That being said, the third act does ramp in difficulty as it features gunplay and vehicle driving segments where both players must control fast vehicles in tense situations. These moments can get particularity frustrating, but they don’t hit until late game, and the checkpoints are forgiving enough to allow for lots of trial and error without too much wait or extra slog.
All told, the wife and I made it through A Way Out in around six hours, making it a perfect candidate for this article series. We took a break for lunch and finished it up in no time at all. And that was perfectly satisfying. While it’s short, even when compared to some other story games, being a team-up endeavor, it was the perfect length. If you’re itching for an interesting take on a genre that is primarily for one player, and the backseat gamer or playtime partner in your life wants a bit of story in their couch co-op time, then you can’t beat this title. A Way Out is currently part of this week’s Xbox game sale at an easy to digest $7.49 on the Microsoft store until May 25, and it’s always free to play with they EA Access monthly plan. Grab a partner, and make a break for it.